Posted by
The Chopping Block on Monday, June 09, 2008 12:00:00 AM
"Hero" should be reserved for people that put their own lives in danger to save another human being from death. Without these two elements present--knowing full well that you are putting your health and safety in danger, and saving another person from death or injury--then it is not a heroic action.
For example, it has become fashionable to call someone who has been on the job a long time and has had a positive impact on people's lives a hero, but in fact, they are not heroes. They may be "role models", but they are not heroes.
We need to reserve "hero" for the real heroes--firemen that rush into buildings to save others, policemen that put their lives on the line to save people, corpsmen and medics that rush into the line of fire to save wounded marines and soldiers, etc. you get the picture. If we continue to water down (I call it "hero inflation", like "grade inflation") the word hero, eventually we will have no word for the real heroes. Well, I guess that is what it will come to, they will be called "real" heroes. Point made...
And by the way, it turns out that my local postman is a hero. He is a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism under fire.